We’ve just come home from a wonderful week on the Larkspur on the Kennet & Avon canal. Angus met us on Saturday morning and spent 3 hours with us showing us all the aspects of the boat and sailing into Bath with us so we could get some practice on a lock and also in turning the boat. He set us up for any problems we might encounter (like cutting fishing wire from the propeller which we had to do on one occasion) and he made a point of including our children (aged 11 and 9) and showing them how they could help. We were initially a bit nervous about taking this wide boat out on our own (as my husband had never been on a boating holiday before) but we soon relaxed into it. We made it all the way to Honeystreet and back (tackling the Caen Steps up and down) in our week and visited some lovely canal side pubs for food along the way (The Barge Inn at Seend Cleeve and The Somerset Arms at Semington being two of the loveliest). The volunteers along the way were extremely helpful (especially at the Caen Steps) as were other boaters who were all happy to chat and share a story. The boat was really well equipped with everything we might need. The beds were comfortable and the boat was a pleasure to sail. Angus was relaxed and enthusiastic and we knew that we could call him at anytime should we have a problem. We all had a really enjoyable week (tiring at times but with a great sense of accomplishment) and we hope it won’t be our last boating holiday. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★